Bloodsong
by blackshade9
Summary: Spilled blood and haunting song, an unlikely pair share mutual mysteries, and must collide with a cruel world that seeks only to exploit them. And as the Silver Sister asks "What am I without my memories?", a most dangerous Violet Viper questions "What monster hides behind my foggy mind?" Parallel Spin-Off of Treefall, to be read after Treefall.


The young man stared up into the sky, his eyes focused on the flashing lights of Orihime I, the shell of Tree Diagram floating in orbit above the city. His hands were slid into the pockets of his hooded vest, his mind racing with so many questions, none of which had answers. Almost without thought, the young man looked away from the sky, blinking as he tried to focus on the first and most foremost important question in his mind.

"Who… am I?"

* * *

He walked down the street, filled with a sense of calm that felt unnatural. Honestly, he really should be more bothered by the complete lack of memory and sense of identity. He sighed as he paused in front of a shop, the window having turned into a one-way mirror due to how late it was in the day. Shopkeepers often made their windows opaque with the flick of a switch here in Academy City.

Academy City… That's where he was, that he could remember. Shaking his head and refocusing, he looked at his reflection, tugging the hood down off his head. Violet eyes with dark hair, a single streak of purple seemingly dyed into one area. He guessed he was probably around 17 or 18. A hooded vest with a t-shirt and some cargo pants and a cloth belt. Some kind of black-as-night metal choker. Gym shoes. He looked fairly normal. Catching sight of a small pouch hooked onto his belt in the mirror, he reached over and began to sift through it. He was somewhat handsome, he supposed, though he'd certainly never trust that snake-like face.

"Come on, there's gotta be something here to help me out." He first pulled out a phone. He only barely remembered it was a phone, due to it being one of the high-tech holographic ones you pulled open. Searching through it found little of value, no contacts, no pictures, nothing. Great.

The more troubling thing - not in that he was whatsoever bothered by the existence but in the way he was fairly certain he'd get arrested if caught - was the number of knives he found on his person. Balisong, few throwing knives, switchblade, and a disassembled curved knife. Huh.

The next thing he found, though, was interesting. It was an ID badge, from a some university. His picture was on it. His eyes moved to the name.

"...What kind of name is Indigo?" He wondered aloud as he read the full name.

Kihara Indigo.

* * *

"Well, this sucks." He hummed out as he wandered an alley, more hours having crawled by without making any headway in his memory. Plugging into a terminal and browsing Academy City public information hadn't helped anything, just confirmed that he hadn't forgotten the details of Academy City life, at least.

Honestly, the most frustrating thing was the extremely intrusive thoughts. Every time something annoyed or obstructed him, this spike of murderous desire crawled into his head, forcing him to shove it away.

"Fuck, I hope I'm not some kind of psychotic serial killer." He sighed, idly pulling a knife out of his pouch and spinning it around on a finger. He glanced at his hand, and marveled at how he was even able to do this, and wondered why idle boredom compelled him to play with a knife.

His attention was pulled away from the knife as a blur of white and silver ran past him as he approached an intersection of alleys. He blinked and turned his head as he saw a white-robed figure dashing down the alley.

"What the…" He muttered, though was quickly distracted as he found the source of what she was fleeing from. Thugs chased after her, most passing him by, but a couple stopping in front of Kihara. Indigo? He hadn't decided which he preferred.

"Move along, punk. You didn't see anything." One thug said, standing a full head taller than him. The one next to him, who said nothing, was just as big.

"...Huh." Was all the purple-eyed young man said at first, his eyes drifting to the knife still in his hand. The pair of thugs finally noticed that he was armed, and there was an awkward pause that rang through the air.

Honestly, the part that worried Indigo the most… was the intense rush of excitement he had in that moment.

* * *

The Silver Sister stopped in her flight as she ran straight into a dead end, her eyes scanning the alley for another way out, something to climb, or maybe a place to hide. She didn't have long to ponder as the thugs caught up, the Sister turning around quickly and staring down a mob of men who looked extremely displeased with her, and quite frankly, she did not like the hungry look in some of their eyes.

"Well little lady, you partook in our generosity without so much as a proper thank you." One man, nominally the leader by his somewhat better dress and the deference the others gave. "Is it really the… godly thing to do, taking a free meal without repaying the kindness?"

"My name is Index, and I'm not going home with you!" She shouted angrily, not one to let herself be easily intimidated. Or at least, try not to show it. "G-God will punish you, if… if you…" she continued to back away as he approached, her heart hammering in her chest as she looked up at the evil glint in the man's eyes.

All froze in place, however, as the most blood curdling screams echoed down the alley. Several turned around, looking into the darkness of the urban corridor, before another strangled cry of pain was heard and cut short. A few seconds later, and footsteps began to echo down the alley.

"What the fuck-!?" The leader began to shout, stepping toward the darkness, not wanting to show fear in front of his subordinates- he didn't get to finish the thought. There was a fleshy, wet thunk, and Index watched the back of the man as the Thug Leader paused in his shout, looked down, before collapsing onto the ground- a knife buried in the dead center of his chest. Slight gurgling came from the man as he tried not to go into shock, and a wicked giggle emanating from the shadows in response to his pain.

"Well, this is vaguely fun, I'm not gonna lie." The voice said from the shadows, before the figure of a young man walked out, his hood drawn over his head, and a balisong being spun on one finger.

"Sup."

The casual, cavalier even, tone, was so at odds with the mood of the 'room' as it were, that it somehow just made everything that much more creepy.

"So… who dies next?" He asked as the silence carried on, catching the spinning balisong in his hand, pointing the blade at the group, flourishing it as if to point at each of them one-by-one.

Index was terrified. Somehow, this was more horrifying than whatever it was these men had been planning. Every warning bell in her head went off as one thug finally moved forward, Index only having a briefest of seconds to shout.

"No, don't-!" But it was too late. In a violet blur, the stranger was slashing and stabbing, kicking and striking, blood flying and splattering across the alley as he began to dismantle this group of nearly a dozen thugs. The youth moved like he was guided by knowledge of the divine; not a single one of the men could touch him. He moved and weaved around them, slicing and cutting at critical locations, one by one knocking them down to the ground covered in bloody wounds.

Index could only watch in stunned silence, she didn't even recall at what point she had fallen backwards into a sitting position.

Finally, as the last thug began to fall, the youth raised the knife in his hand up, and Index was compelled to break from her statue-like state.

"DON'T!" She cried out quickly, the boy pausing mid-stab, one hand holding the thug by his collar. He turned his head to stare at her, blinking.

"...But… why?" He asked her, looking genuinely confused. "I mean, they started it."

"No one is dead yet, if someone gets here soon enough they might be OK, don't kill him!" She objected quickly, getting onto her feet and dashing over to him, grabbing at his arm. The boy stared down at her, seeming just absolutely bewildered, but shrugged and spun the balisong into its folded position, shoving the thug onto the ground.

Index stared up at him, still clutching his arm, and she could feel his heart pounding and racing unnaturally just from touching his wrist. Who was this man? Why… why had he done this?

"Why… did you…?" She began to ask, the youth turning to look at her again, staring down at the much shorter girl.

"...I don't know." He admitted, shrugging a bit helplessly, giving her an affable smile that was entirely inappropriate for the current setting, his smile wavering as she did not return it.

Silence echoed from the pair, joined only by the pained groaning of the bloodied thugs that surrounded them. The silence was shattered by the sound of whistles and stomping feet.

"I think this city's law is coming to take a peek." And without another word, scooped her up, and climbed the wall of the building that blocked the end of the alley.

"W-wha- hey!" She objected as he tore up the wall at a stunning speed, scaling it with just one hand and his legs, making it to the top and breaking into a sprint across the rooftop, with kidnapped holy girl in tow.

* * *

As the pair of unlikely companions fled from the scene of the crime, two individuals stared down at them from a far taller building just a small distance away, a man and a woman. Brushing red hair out of his face, the man stood up from his crouched position, looking at his companion, who turned to meet his gaze. His next words echoed with agreement in the eyes of his partner.

"...This just got a lot more complicated."


End file.
